The tree glimmered, the aroma of roast turkey filled the air, the champagne flowed freely, but where was Santa? Everyone at the Shanleys’ Holiday Party waited on the edge of excitement for the moment he would arrive. Outside, a merry jingle of bells sounded. Taryn and her mother Kaylynn glanced out the living room window — could that be his sleigh landing in the yard?
Even though I complain about my Legacy Challenge family once in awhile, I’m still having fun with them. The social worker incident was at least something new, and I learned from Janice’s comment that kids who are taken away are the first in line to be adopted, which is pretty cool. I like that I’m still learning new things about this game even though I play it constantly.
Now for the update! I mentioned last time that Liam was due to become an elder. It turns out that he shared his birthday with two other family members, so we had three birthdays in one day.
Liam was the first to blow out his candles and have a piece of cake. I think he was in full platinum when he transitioned, but I’m not positive. I need to start keeping better notes! It’s nice to have an idea of when an elder is due to kick the bucket, so I can really focus on putting them in platinum. Yes, I’m greedy for those marble & gold headstones.
In the background you can see Taryn with her “new look”. I just gave her a different hairstyle and took the glasses away so I could see how much she looks like her sister Fiona. The verdict? They are practically twins! I still find it odd that my actual twins, Bree and Kiara, differed so greatly in looks and personality, while all of my other Legacy kids are clones of each other. Go figure.
There won’t be much suspense in this one, since I spilled the beans about the social worker and the headmaster in my last post, but here’s the full report…
Here’s little Aidan just after birth. Everyone looks eager to welcome him into the family — except for the maid, who is just trying to get some work done, for heaven’s sake. Unfortunately because of my poor micromanaging skills, Aidan was doomed to leave his family the very next day…
Now that the second generation of my Legacy Challenge family has passed on, here’s another shot of the family tree. Last time it was Bree’s family tree — this time it is her son Devin’s, so it doesn’t show Bree’s sister, Kiara.
Leo passed on in platinum (yay!) but I did such of horrible job of managing everyone else in the meantime that the social worker showed up and took Maire and the new baby away (the teens got to stay). It was very tragic. And Leo died when the headmaster was visiting, which seems to have caused a glitch — after the Reaper left, the headmaster couldn’t eat dinner. He would sit down and get right back up. I tried deleting chairs and serving him something else, but nothing worked. So I let him leave and called for another headmaster. Now he won’t show up at all. Bummer!
Here’s another list of the family members if family trees aren’t your thing:
1st Gen: Nia (original Legacy founder), Sheldon the Mailman
2nd Gen: Kiara & Bree (twins), Leo the Gardener
3rd Gen: Devin & Liam, Kaylynn the Maid, Melissa Fancey (townie)
4th Gen: Fiona, Taryn, Maire (taken by social worker), Aidan (taken by social worker)
And just for kicks, here’s my Legacy Challenge Scorecard:
Total Points: 20
Score Breakdown
Generations: 4 (4 pts)
Family net worth: §231,000 (3 pts)
Platinum graves: 3 (3 pts)
Family friends: 19 (6 pts)
Impossible Wants: 2 (2 pts, Bree and Leo maxed all skills)
Shrink Visits: -2 (-2 pts, Nia and Sheldon)
NPCs in bloodline: 3 (3 pts, Mailman, Gardener, Maid)
Career Reward Objects: 0 (2 pts for having all 10 — I have 7)
Ghosts: White ghost (1 pt)
Ghosts free to roam: 2 point bonus
Visitor death penalty: 0
Alien births: 0
Children, toddlers, infants taken by social worker: -2 pts
10th gen twins: 0
Platinum graves of all 5 aspirations: 0
As you can see, I got docked quite a few points for the social worker tragedy and the shrink visits. I could have let Leo die in Gold and kept the kids — my point total would be higher! Heh. Oh well, it’s all in good fun. Some people have finished the challenge with 80 points — there’s no way I’m going to beat that, so I’m just going to see how well I can do.
Leo was very close to death last night, and as I waited for the Hooded One to appear, I raced frantically to keep him in platinum. Well, I screwed up. Again. But first, let’s take a look at what I thought would be Leo’s last day on SimEarth…
He spent a lot of time lounging around and watching TV, his two favorite pursuits. I find that a bit odd for a Knowledge Sim, but hey, he’s an elder and he’s already maxed out all of his skills. What else does he have to do except be a man of leisure? Since he was platinum most of the time, I was using the Energizer on him, so he wasn’t wasting his valuable last hours in bed. He also enjoys interacting with his son Liam. In this picture it looks like Liam is asking Leo to pull his finger. Behind them, Taryn watches TV. She takes after her Grandpa in that respect.
In the meantime, Kaylynn was asleep in the toddler room while Maire played with the Logic toy. That’s pretty much the only toy I direct them to play with nowadays so they’ll do their homework faster when they grow up. Maire looks exactly like her sisters did when they were toddlers. I wish they’d at least randomize the hairstyles a little — I don’t think we can use the mirror to change the appearance of a toddler, so they’re pretty much stuck all looking alike…
(continued from Part II)
For the next two days, Joey spent most of his waking hours sitting in his strange new contraption, repeating the same sentences over and over. Every time he said “I am a car salesman,” the machine would buzz, the lights would flash, and Joey would get shocked. Tiffy strolled by from time to time, glancing at him warily but said nothing — she was busy with work and packing for her new job at Geneva College.
When Bailey stopped by, it wasn’t for long, as she was in the midst of preparations for the wedding on Saturday. She would squeeze Joey’s arm, say “My, aren’t we getting flabby”, and drag him off into the bedroom. (I refrained from following them, being a polite ghost who doesn’t care to intrude upon certain romantic relations, ahem.) After she left, Joey would spend a good hour at the weight machine, trying to become “unflabby”, I assume.
Finally the day of the wedding rolled around. Joey got up as usual, showered, trimmed his everpresent blanket of stubble, and headed straight for the shock machine. He sank into the chair as if it were the most comfortable thing in the world. At first I thought he was just having a rest, but then he turned the machine on, smiled confidently, and said, “I am a car salesman.”
Well, wouldn’t you know — nothing happened. No sparks flew, no lights flashed. With that same self-satisfied expression on his face, Joey stood up and headed for the kitchen.
Whew, what a night. I only played through 2 or 3 Sim days, but they were pretty intense. Let’s just say that trying to keep 7 Sims in platinum is extremely tough. I think the best I’ve done is 6 Sims in platinum. I pause the game constantly to check on everyone and queue their actions, and it’s kind of wearing me out. The house was actually full for awhile after Kaylynn’s third child was born. They don’t call it the Legacy Challenge for nothing!
Now for the update…the first picture here is actually from the other night (when Kiara passed away). Liam no longer had his First Kiss want, but Leo wanted a relative to get engaged, so I had Liam invite Melissa Fancey over. They were friends, but by the end of the night Liam had proposed engagement. Somewhere in there he received his very first kiss. Go Liam! I couldn’t have Melissa move in because the house was already full, so she and Liam are still just engaged.
When I popped into the house tonight, I checked on everyone and took pictures of what they were doing. I like to do this before the blurs set in, plus it’s nice just to capture a “random” moment. Here’s Taryn, now a child, eating dinner by herself. Poor kid. I have no idea who made the dinner for her.
Kiara Shanley, aged 74, left us tonight for that great luau in the sky. Let us take a moment to look back upon Kiara’s life and note her many accomplishments.
Kiara Shanley was born in Mt. Geneva to Nia and Sheldon Shanley. She had a twin sister, Bree, who was her best friend all her life. From her teenage years to old age, Kiara had a remarkable career in Athletics, eventually reaching the status of Hall of Famer. Unfortunately she lost her job in her late 60s due to a poor career choice, but she didn’t seem to mind, as it left her more time to paint. Kiara painted several masterpieces in the last decade of her life, selling many of them for §500-700. Some of them still hang on the walls of Shanley Manor, including a portrait she painted of her nephew, Devin Shanley. With the income from athletics and painting, she was able to earn over §63,000 in her lifetime.
Kiara never married but was in love with Kennedy Cox when she died.
Kiara is survived by her sister Bree, her nephews Devin and Liam, and her great-nieces, Fiona and Taryn. A marble gravestone marks the spot where her ashes were interred in the Shanley Family Cemetery. May she rest in peace and not haunt the family too terribly much.